Don't Fall
by Shakespoe
Summary: One-Shot Prompt: Callie is on a date with another woman at the Space Needle, but she locks eyes with Arizona across the room who is also on a date with another woman. Both of them complete forget their dates and steal glances at each other the remainder of the night. A couple of days later, they run into each other again at a coffee shop.


**AN**: This is a one shot from a prompt by ImSoCoolIPissIceCubes for being the 50th favorite on my story, Awakened.

Prompt: Callie is on a date with another woman at the Space Needle, but she locks eyes with Arizona across the room who is also on a date with another woman. Both of them completely forgetting their dates and stealing glances at each other the remainder of the night. A couple of days later, they run into each other again at a coffee shop.

I hope I do it justice! Enjoy!

* * *

The whole city of Seattle can be seen from the very top of the Space Needle, a fact that was very much apparent to Dr. Calliope Torres as her eyes scanned from East to West. She swore she could feel the tower swaying… and her stomach did not at all appreciate it. Her knuckles grew white as she gripped the railing surrounding the observation deck. It almost felt like the railing was swaying too, no matter how hard she tightened her grip on it. She squeezed her eyes shut and started counting down from 100 while working on settling her spinning stomach. Her focus on her internal workings was broken when she heard her name being called by her date.

"Callie? Callie, come look!"

The Latina winced as she opened one eye, hoping the lack of depth perception would somehow help her ability to keep the tower from moving under her feet. "Uhm. You know what, Julie? I'm fine, totally fine. I'm just going to stand here and try not to puke."

Julie came running up to her, causing the ground of the observation deck to shake. She threw her eyes open and with a sharp intake of breath held her hand up to stop the woman.

"STOP RUNNING!"

She heard her own voice mix with another; it was slightly higher pitched, but equally panicked. She turned to see an absolutely stunning woman gripping the rail next to her. She had the most amazingly blue eyes. She would have noticed more, but she couldn't stop looking at those eyes.

Arizona's stomach flipped, which she honestly had had quite enough of for the day. This flip though was welcomed as it came as a result from laying her eyes on the most stunningly gorgeous woman she had ever seen. Everything from her raven black hair to her full, red lips… she had never seen anyone so beautiful in her life.

"Arizona, close your mouth. It's horribly unbecoming." Arizona snapped her mouth closed and turned sharply to her date, laughing nervously.

"Oh, right. Sorry, Colleen. Are you ready to go yet? Because I am. I really, _really_ am."

Colleen sighed and looked longingly over the rail at the city. She took a step towards the edge and took in the sight of Seattle one last time before nodding and turning towards the elevator, looking back over her shoulder to see if her date was following her.

Arizona looked back towards the mystery woman who had taken her breath away, and caught her eyes.

Callie felt Julie's hand on her back and somewhere in the distance, she was sure she heard her voice, but all that she could focus on was the blonde standing next to her. She chanced a smile, but she was so in shock, she wasn't sure she had completely formed one.

Arizona watched as one side of the woman's mouth edged up towards a smile, and she could feel her heart race. She found her brown eyes and wondered how she had ever missed them. They were brilliant. She felt her own lips burst into a smile before she even had the thought.

She has dimples. Callie's eyes were torn from the baby blues they had been locked on for what seemed like a year to take in the magical smile from the mystery blonde. Instantly, she felt comfortable, as if everything around her would be fine. Her grip loosened on the railing and she thought to reach out to touch the woman just as Julie grabbed her hand.

"Finally you let go of that stupid rail! Callie, come on. We're leaving." She yanked on her arm, but she couldn't look away from the blonde. She wanted to ask her name, her number, something… anything.

She watched as her mystery woman was walked away towards the exit. She wanted to run after her and take her hand. She was instantly jealous of the woman who had grabbed her hand and taken her away. She should be the one holding that hand.

The doors to the elevator began to close, but neither woman's smile left their face and their eyes stayed locked on each other until the doors finally cut their connection.

Arizona's eyes lingered on the elevator doors and she let go of the rail, completely forgetting her previous fears. A soft hand lingered on her arm, trailing down to her hand and finally taking a firm grasp.

"Arizona?" She glanced over to the voice and gave a weak smile. "Come on."

She let Colleen lead her into a separate elevator, and she continued to hold her hand the whole way back down to the solid ground, but every part of her was still up on that observation deck, holding hands instead with a beautiful Latina.

* * *

They walked through the gift shop hand-in-hand; more by force than voluntarily. Julie hadn't loosened her death grip ever since she had completely ignored her, instead watching the mystery blonde with dimples and beautiful blue eyes. She shook her head at the memory, trying to work through what had just happened.

"Callie, what do you think of this? Charlie would love this!" Callie sighed and rolled her eyes. Julie's nephew, Charlie was hardly a year old, and yet she insisted on buying the most ridiculous choke hazardous toys she could find. She looked over to see what she was holding, and sure enough, it was a 3" tall model of the Space Needle.

"Don't you think it's a bit small yet for him? They have a kid's section… let's go look over there." She offered a small smile, but she knew that it looked as fake as it felt.

Julie looked down to the figurine in her hand and shrugged. "It's only seven dollars. Let's just get this."

"**Okay**!" Callie gave an over-exaggerated approval and nearly bounced with feigned excitement. The second Julie turned with a huge smile, Callie's smile returned to a flat grimace and her shoulders fell as she glanced around, hoping to see something that was even slightly entertaining. This was their third date, and they had only been getting progressively worse. She knew what Julie expected to happen later, but Callie already decided she was dropping her off after this.

As she let her eyes wander around the plush toys, light up statues, and hoodies, she caught a glimpse of blonde curls bouncing near the t-shirts. She looked closer to see if it really was the blonde from the observation deck.

"Callie? Hey! **CALLIE**!" She turned her head sharply to see a very perturbed Julie. She winced. What was happening to her? She was never this bad… especially not when she was on a date with a particularly hot woman.

"Sorry."

Julie huffed and rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I'm gonna go pay for this and go use the bathroom, then I'll be ready to go."

Callie smiled weakly and nodded. "Okay, I'll wait for you by the exit."

Julie looked across the store and saw the blonde Callie had been eyeing and gave an exaggerated huff before turning on her heel and heading towards the cashier.

She watched briefly before turning back to the cards in front of her with a deep breath. That woman was a tough one to handle sometimes. She was counting on the sex being awesome, but oh the fuck well. Sometimes an attitude was so bad it wasn't even worth seeing what the sex was like. She caught the sound of someone laughing and she looked up to see who it was. She should have already known though; the blonde was bent over laughing at her friend who was posed with a muscle shirt thrown across her torso. She watched with a cautious smile pulling at her lips. She didn't even notice that her legs were moving.

Arizona tried to catch her breath as Colleen chuckled to herself and put the shirt away. Colleen had always been a good friend. This was their first time trying a date, and it honestly wasn't going all that terribly. She still felt awkward holding her hand and any touch of affection just seemed weird. Colleen was her friend… she had been for years. So when she saw her leaning in to kiss her, it was instinct to turn her face slightly so that her lips met her cheek. Colleen leaned back abruptly as the rack of hoodies crashed to the floor next to them. Arizona's head jerked at the sound and she stood frozen when she saw the mystery Latina from the observation deck fumbling on the ground.

Callie grasped around her to try to find something to pull herself up on, feeling rather stupid for tripping at all. When she saw the blonde almost kiss her friend… well more than friend apparently, it made everything spin. She immediately wanted to both run away crying and jump in between them to push the brunette off of her. It was insanely irrational, and now she was lying on the floor along with her dignity because of it. She cursed herself under her breath.

Arizona raced over to help the woman off the ground and heard the mumbled Spanish, immediately causing her eyebrow to rise. It was the sexiest thing she had ever heard. She reached out to help her, but as soon as brown eyes met her own, the woman was frozen where she sat.

Callie looked up to see those beautiful blue eyes looking down at her and the hand she had dreamed of touching reaching out to help her. Her heart flew out of her chest and she had to catch her breath. The dimpled smile came back across her lips, breaking her from her spell. She reached up and took her hand.

Sparks flew across Arizona's skin and down her nerve endings. She could feel every drop of blood racing through her veins, and she felt like she was on fire. Her heart rate flew through the roof, and suddenly she felt like she was standing at the top of the Space Needle, the ground underneath her swaying in rhythm with her stomach's turns.

Callie felt like there were fireworks engulfing her. Shockwave after shockwave of heat flew through her and her skin trembled with the full strength of an earthquake. Her knees went weak, but the hand holding hers kept her upright. She couldn't look away from those eyes! A throat cleared behind the blonde and she glanced over to see a very irritated brunette with her hip cocked to the side. She looked back to the blonde with a nervous smile. "…Thanks." It was all she could figure out to say.

Arizona didn't even hear Colleen's voice until the brown eyes of the woman opposite her peered over her shoulder. She loved the way her mouth curled into that cautious smile. And then she spoke and Arizona swore she never heard anything more perfect in her life. She felt like she couldn't move, couldn't function. "Yeah."

Callie gave a nervous chuckle, suddenly feeling extraordinarily ridiculous. She looked down to the hoodie rack she had knocked over and winced. "Wow… that's a new record."

Arizona laughed, looking down at the wreckage. "It's a bad day to be a hoodie. That's for sure."

Callie laughed and looked back into the blonde's eyes. "Yeah… bad day for a hoodie." Her voice trailed away as she was caught in the trance of those blue eyes once more.

"Arizona?" Colleen broke the trance, and Arizona looked over her shoulder wincing.

"Yeah, right. Uhm…" She turned, realizing she was still holding the woman's hand. She never wanted to let go, but the awkwardness of the situation suddenly fell on her like a ton of bricks. "I'm glad you're okay."

Callie smiled warmly to the blonde. "Yeah, thank you… Arizona?" She wasn't sure she had heard the other woman correctly.

Arizona nodded, matching the Latina's warm smile and introduced herself. "Dr. Arizona Robbins."

Callie's face lit up. She was a doctor!? "Nice to meet you, Arizona! I'm Dr. Calliope Torres."

The blonde's smile grew… she was a doctor!

"Er, well, most people just call me Callie."

The blonde smirked. "Well, Calliope, I'm not most people. It was nice meeting you. I hope we run into each other again… just not with hoodies around." Callie laughed and nodded, looking back down at the carnage. Arizona winked and gave her hand a squeeze before letting it fall and returning to her last date with her friend, Colleen.

* * *

"So wait, you seriously _fell_ and knocked down all of the hoodies?" Mark laughed, smacking the table between him and his best friend, Callie at their favorite coffee shop. It was frequented by the staff at Seattle Grace Mercy West. It was within walking distance, had great coffee, and everything on their menu was under $5… everything a doctor, nurse, or a surgeon would need.

Callie buried her face into her hands and grumbled. "Yes… _right_ into the hoodies. And right in front of seriously the most gorgeous woman on the face of the planet."

"Ouch." Mark took a bite of his scone. "That's a rough one, Torres. Who's the lady? You haven't mentioned her before… just that you broke up with Julia. Did she have anything to do with it?" Mark wiggled his eyebrows knowingly.

Callie sighed. "I wish I could say no. But seriously, Mark. You didn't see her. She's…" she took a deep breath, trying to find the right word. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw telltale blonde curls go flying as the door to the coffee shop open. "Right there! Mark, she's right there! WHAT DO I DO?!" She buried her head, panic overtaking her.

Mark turned. "Where?"

"NO! **DON'T** **LOOK**!" She grabbed Mark's arm, dragging his attention back to the table.

"Okay, okay. What does she look like?"

"Uhm, blonde… thin but not like sick skinny… and she has these beautiful blue eyes." Callie relaxed and sat up, thinking about her smile. "And she has this smile. It's…"

Mark shifted to sit back in his chair. "Damn, Torres…" Callie winced at Mark's look of disgust. "I think I see her, though."

"Calliope?" Callie turned at the sound of her name ringing through the air.

"Arizona!" She let out a deep breath. "It's… It's you!"

Arizona smiled, chuckling slightly and cocking her head to the side. "Yeah, yeah it's me." She looked into Callie's eyes and had to remind herself to breathe.

Mark cleared his throat, breaking the intense gaze between the two women. Callie turned to see him raising his eyebrow with a smirk. "Oh, right. Uhm, Mark, this is Arizona. Arizona, this is Dr. Mark Sloan. He works in plastics."

Arizona reached out to shake his hand then motioned towards the table. "Mind if I join you? I have half an hour before I have to be back at the hospital."

"No, of course! We have to leave in a few minutes, but we can chat until then." Mark caught Callie's eyes and looked to his watch. "Actually, blondie, I gotta get going. You two enjoy your coffee." He got up and nodded to the table before winking to Callie and heading out.

She really loved that man sometimes. Callie watched him walk away and smiled as Arizona scooted into the booth across from her.

Arizona spun her coffee nervously in her hands then chuckled nervously.

Callie caught the laugh and smiled. "Hi."

Arizona looked up, blushing and smiled. "Hey." She cursed herself for having such a hard time talking to this woman. She was never shy around the ladies… but Callie stole the words right from under her.

"So, you work at Seattle Grace?"

Arizona looked up with a smile. "Yeah! I'm the head Peds surgeon."

Callie's face lit up, finally recognizing where she had heard her name before. "Oh! Right! Robbins! I've heard a lot about you. I'm the head Ortho surgeon."

Arizona smiled and leaned forward just a fraction of an inch. "Oh! Of course! You were the one who rebuilt that guy's hand last month, right?"

Callie nodded. "Yeah! You heard about that?"

Arizona scoffed. "Calliope, everyone heard about that. You're like a superstar with a scalpel. I just didn't realize that was you."

She couldn't believe Arizona had actually heard of her… and now she was talking as if she was meeting a celebrity. She was the one talking to a superstar… That was for damn sure. She hesitated. "Yeah, that was me! But what about that infant born with her heart on the outside that you saved last week? That was incredible, Arizona."

How was she being complimented by the most amazing surgeon she had ever heard of? There was no way that the beautiful woman sitting across from her was actually complimenting her. She blushed and looked down at her coffee. She really was not used to this kind of attention. "She's a fighter, that's for sure."

"Well, she was lucky to have you for a surgeon."

Arizona looked up into Callie's eyes, a genuine smile crossing her mouth. "Thank you."

Callie nodded and took a sip of her coffee. "It's true."

Arizona felt like the only thing she knew how to do when she was around the raven haired beauty across from her was smile, and she laughed, feeling ridiculous at how giddy she was getting from the compliments. "So, how are you? That was a pretty hard fall the other day."

Callie laughed nervously and rubbed her side dramatically. "No broken bones, just a bit of bruising… Especially my pride."

Arizona laughed and took a sip of her coffee. "I don't think you give yourself enough credit, Calliope. I've never seen someone make a fall look so beautiful." She winked as Callie coughed, choking on her coffee in surprise.

She looked up at Arizona, shocked.

Arizona scanned Callie's face and laughed. She obviously was not expecting such a personal compliment. She hadn't really expected to be giving them, but it seemed so natural to be flirting with her, especially now that she was officially single. Colleen had completely understood, admitting she too felt awkward, and mentioned feeling outshined by a 'complete stranger' while on their date. Arizona denied it, but looking at that complete stranger now, she admittedly had to agree. "Smooth, Calliope." She handed Callie a napkin with a smirk.

Callie wiped her mouth and patted her shirt where some coffee had fallen. "Yeah, I'm the epitome of grace." She chuckled and shook her head.

"You really are, though. Calliope, you're _beautiful_." Arizona couldn't believe she had just admitted that out loud. She had been thinking it repeatedly, but whatever happened to a filter!?

Callie's eyes flickered to Arizona's and a cautious crossed her lips. "Really?"

Arizona smiled and reached across the table, taking Callie's hand in her own. "Really."

Callie looked down to her hand, adjusting it to grip Arizona's. She traced a circle across the top, relishing in the feel of the smooth, fair skin. She smiled up at Arizona, just as her pager interrupted their moment. She reached down with her free hand and looked at the screen. "Crap, I gotta go…" She looked to Arizona with a groan. "When do you get off? Would you maybe want to get some dinner tonight?"

Arizona squeezed Callie's hand. "I would love to. I don't get off until 9 though, so want to just meet at Joe's?"

Callie nodded, squeezing Arizona's hand as she stood up. "Definitely. Bye, Arizona."

Arizona smiled. "See you tonight, Calliope."

Callie turned and walked away, sneaking a last look over her shoulder and smiled when she saw Arizona's eyes still lingering on her back. She winked and was out the door. The fresh air filled her lungs and she sighed into the wind as a new heart beat in her chest. It was a heart on fire, burning with a new passion for a certain blonde sitting in her favorite coffee shop. She looked to the sky and laughed as she felt her stomach spin just like it had when she was looking down at the city from the observation deck of the Space Needle. This time though, she didn't need a railing.


End file.
